We must build an AX (AI transformation) ecosystem where countless startups take on AI businesses, compete fiercely, and grow through failure.
Korea Startup Forum (KOSPO) held the "AXIS 2026 Summit" on the 11th at C-Square in Gangnam, Seoul.
AXIS is short for "AX (AI transformation) is here," meaning the axis of AX should shift from the government and institutions to startups and the industrial field.
About 100 people, including officials from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Ministry of Science and ICT and founders of AI startups, attended the summit. Participants assessed the current state of Korea's AI industry and sought directions for the domestic AX ecosystem amid global AI competition.
Kim Jae-won, chair of KOSPO, said in the opening keynote that global AI competition has emerged as the core of national competitiveness. Kim said, "The United States is reshaping the landscape of industry and security through AI, China is changing its national structure with AI, and the Middle East is betting the next 100 years on AI."
Kim added, "Korea has also set a goal of becoming one of the world's top three AI powers, focusing on computing infrastructure, data, and talent development," and emphasized, "To achieve that goal, startups that constantly challenge new possibilities must become the key actors capable of executing Korea's AX."
Kim also said, "Korea's AX will be completed on top of a market where AI startups can grow and an ecosystem where continuous challenges are possible," and added, "We must build a virtuous cycle in which startups create new industries, and those successes in turn foster the next generation of founders."
Mok Seung-hwan, head of the Startup and Venture Innovation Office at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Lee Jin-soo, director-general for AI policy planning at the Ministry of Science and ICT, introduced the government's AI startup development and support policies in their welcome remarks.
The summit ran in three sessions. In the first "AI ecosystem" session, Park Young-sun, head of the Sogang Mentoring Center "Window of Thought" at Sogang University and former Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), Ryu Jung-hee, CEO of Realworld, Lee Hae-min, lawmaker of the Rebuilding Korea Party, and Lee Han-bin, CEO of Seoul Robotics, discussed ways to nurture national champion AI corporations and strengthen the competitiveness of the startup ecosystem.
Center head Park Young-sun cited Jensen Huang, the Nvidia CEO who recently visited Korea, and stressed the importance of building a sovereign AI ecosystem. Park said, "It is necessary for Korean corporations to cooperate with Nvidia, but if the AI ecosystem becomes dependent on Nvidia, Korea could fall behind in AI competition."
Park went on, "The government is doing well by building a Korean-style AI ecosystem through a sovereign AI strategy, but there are still areas lacking," and said, "Startups should also be supported so they can build competitiveness within a sovereign AI ecosystem."
Lawmaker Lee Hae-min agreed with Park's concerns but emphasized the need for a multifaceted cooperation strategy with global corporations. Lee said, "It is important to secure AI infrastructure by collaborating with a range of global corporations, including Nvidia and Anthropic, and to create a structure in which Korean startups can compete across multiple global infrastructure environments."
In the second "AI transformation" session, moderated by Lim Jung-wook, head of Startup Alliance, Bang Geul-a, head of external relations at Born AI, Han Ji-hyeong, CEO of Autonomous A2Z, and Seo Young-gyu, chief information security officer (CISO) at Elice, held a discussion on AI transformation strategies for the institutional sector and industrial sites.
In the third "global AI" session, Son Jae-kwon, CEO of The Miilk, Lee Kyung-hoon, chief AI officer (CAIO) at Channel Corporation, and Oh Hye-yeon, a professor at KAIST, presented strategies for entering global markets and securing Korean-style AI competitiveness.
At the end of the event, a networking program was arranged for participants to mingle freely. KOSPO plans to use this summit as a springboard to continue building a startup-led AX ecosystem and advancing policy discussions.